User:Bunai Di/Creating a Fanmade Vocaloid

This creation guide was formulated for the following reasons:


 * 1) To reduce the amount of "low quality" pages being created, meaning, Fanmade Vocaloids that later get abandoned due to lack of interest because the creator does not pursue development of that particular Fanmade.
 * 2) To help a creator in properly establishing their own Fanmade Vocaloid and get the proper recognition for it.
 * 3) Since Hatsune Miku was released, many Fanmade Vocaloid have been created. There are plenty of things to take into account when you do so. The following page is both the wikia guideline for posting and creating fanmade Vocaloid. Here's the general guide of the process of making a fanmade Vocaloid.

Before we begin...
Before you go into the rest of this guide, you should know it uses wiki mark-up. That's the code that wikia uses, it's how the entire thing works. See Wikia Getting Started for a tutorial and tips on how to edit a wiki page, also if you want to practice use the Sandbox.

What exactly is a Fanmade?
A Fanmade Vocaloid, or Derived Vocaloid, is a term used by fans in regards to original characters or characters based on existing Vocaloid characters. There are some expected standards when it comes to creating a page for one.

Okay, how do I start?
If you're hoping that the character you're about the make is the going to be the next Akita Neru, in terms of popularity and recognition, then you will be disappointed and you should understand that the practice of creating fanmades was done at the hype of Hatsune Miku's release. It has slowly died down over the years, but still an active interest in the Vocaloid community. This isn't a paragraph to bum you out or discourage you from creating a character. Just be prepared for your character to be known by readers of the Fanloid Wiki community and not the next big thing in the Vocaloid universe.

Do not be afraid of change or criticism. Don't resent criticism either-- your attention is being called because something you created has hope for improvement. Anyone will not just waste their time expressing points of improvement over something they deem "beyond hope."

Quick Start
This is a summary of how to basically create a character, but you must know, that you are responsible for a characters creation! There may be people who will give you advice (such as now) and help at your request but in the end it will take full effort of yourself to build up your character.


 * Biographical information
 * • A name, a meaning
 * • An age; a representation of age, for example a child, teen, adult etc
 * • Vocaloid type; see for example Types of (title)loids
 * • History (background story)


 * Physical description
 * • A standard gender; if not then state as ambiguous or other
 * • Appearance; body type, hair, eyes, skin etc
 * • Species type; if not Vocaloid or Android by default


 * Technical Information
 * • A voice; if not from official software...
 * • then Description of voice


 * Personal information
 * • Character item, theme, them colors (all is not a requirement)
 * • Relationships; relatives, friend, foe etc


 * Additional information
 * • A concept sketch
 * • A concept illustration; black-n-white or in color
 * • A character being original or derived


 * Character policy

For those who create their characters and are willing to place them on this wikia, then their characters should have a policy (usage clause). A set of rules for readers and other creators to know how your character is expected to be treated.

Do know some restrictions are considered unrealistic and cannot be enforced entirely, especially with the free and open nature of the internet, of course, with the exception of those that fall under the legal realm. An additional example, see UTAU Wiki's Usage Clauses section.


 * Basic examples
 * • If the character and images of them are allowed to be of public use
 * • Types of situations, text, or visual content your character and be subjected to
 * • What types of status and relationships your character is defined under
 * • If your character is illustrated in a certain manner
 * • If images of your character is up for commercial or profitable use. Just one example; if someone were to draw your character then sell the piece at a convention or art site

At any point that you create a character that was not done by your own skill, then you must credit the original source always. The methods below should be viewed as a temporary arrangement to get your character started, with the exception of artwork done at request. Notice, that poor attempts at recolors are discouraged.


 * Other forms of help
 * • Employ an artist to illustrate your Fanmade Vocaloid, if necessary
 * • A doll base that is for fair use
 * • deviantART: Vocaloid Generators
 * • Paste HTML: Generic Vocaloid Fanmade Generator
 * Most generators are for humor reasons. However, for this generator and its results, it just might help you in creating a starting concept! While the link above is safe, do note that some people will maliciously take advantage of Paste HTML's services.

 NOTICE: This section is lengthy and not necessary to read in full, but it does go into advice, recommendations, do's and dont's and so on. Note that with its presence here, it is also a guideline and policy, so if your page ends up falling into one of the listed sections then it will be pointed out for you to read over.

General Reminders

 * 1) The wikia does not tolerate illegal activity, if you link to a blog or youtube account, please do not share MP3s of files you did not make on these places or illegal downloads of any form. Websites will be removed if found to contain illegal information in future, pages may also be removed.
 * 2) Please beware that you must make sure the quality of the page matches standards of other related pages and your character is fully established or in the process of being worked upon until establish standards are met.
 * 3) Notice, just because you can create a new page, does not mean you should create a page without thought. If the page does not comply with the guidelines, it can be deleted at any time or heavily revised. You must make sure your fanmades page is presentable, if you need help then really ask about it. The consequences are if the page you create does not comply it can be marked as spam, and spam can be deleted at any time from the wikia without notice.
 * 4) Characters to be added must have some form of completion, meaning it is not just a mere idea.
 * 5) If your character is in a phase being worked on else where, or in a phase of change, or in a stage of help by your request, then please post it on the following pages...
 * Proposed Fanmade Vocaloids:
 * ° Derivatives
 * ° Mascots
 * ° Miscellaneous

This policy also applies to Vocaloid characters that are not of your own creation and were found, thus it is likely you did not contact the creator about posting it on this wikia, please use the proposed page so the administrator (and community) is aware and can assess if a page should be created for it. If the found fanmade is complete and up for public use, and you feel it can have a page without proposal, then you can create one.

Process of Creation - Advice
Please be aware, that if you do not put much thought into your work, the wikia can remove the page at any point in time. While it does not want to prevent creativity, there have been so many half-hearted fanmades created that it has to be strict with the ones it allows itself to host.


 * 1) Do not recycle names (especially unique family names) which are not created by you. Conflicting names lead to misunderstandings. There are exceptions when it comes to derived names from official Vocaloids, as they are usually done in spoof or intended pun.
 * 2) Giving Fanmade Vocaloids badly-made Japanese names is a bad idea. This is true for any name in a language not native to your own, so try to understand the naming structures.
 * 3) Incorrect information in relation to the Japanese language (such as names, meanings and interpretation) may be clarified or adjusted anytime without notice. You do not always have to name your Vocaloid in Japanese, there are other languages out there, especially your native language.
 * 4) Do not plagiarized characters. Uniqueness can be difficult and trial and error is expected. Stick to the theme of your Fanmade Vocaloid, but deviate if needed, and in good taste. Your Fanmade Vocaloid must stand out and must be memorable to those who see him/her. Mary Sues are heavily frowned upon.
 * 5) In terms of a character generator, try to use the results for a basic idea instead of just copying with not attempt at revising.
 * 6) Do not add characters which inflict racism, discrimination, crime, obscenity (or hentai) and/or political outcry. Even as a joke this can be offensive towards the individuals it is aimed at and will likely attract the wrong attention towards your work and also risk breaking the end user agreement of Wikia or Vocaloid software.
 * 7) Do not attempt to force your character to be related to another by placing its name on a chosen page, especially without the creators approval. This is done to establish peace between creators, if you make a fanmade that is related to say, Akita Neru, then it will not be established as official regardless since it did not come from Akita Neru's creator.
 * 8) Please establish a history of the fanmade; this is important as it tells others the drive behind your fanmade, why it was created in the first place and/or what it represents.
 * 9) A full length picture of the fanmade must be supplied; Notice that this wiki encourages you to try and draw your own images. Do not use someone's original art for unsuitable purposes. Meaning, do not upload an image of someone's character and claim it as your original character.
 * 10) The wikia is not a advertising space, you should not be using it strictly as the 'only place' to advertise your fanmade. The wikia can only supply information on fanmades that have been established through a basic process. The reason for this is Fanloid Wiki is not official and thus not solid proof of a fanmades existence as anyone could alter the details at any point. However, if you have a website established or an account with a website service, then there is proof of your work! Recommended places for establishing proof and promoting your fanmade; Youtube (any other video site), a blogging space (off site) or deviantART or any other community art site.
 * 11) Your Fanmade Vocaloid is like your creation, or in some cases, like your child. Treat him/her with care.

Process of Creation - Requesting Help
Not everyone can grasp how the wikia sets up the fanmades page. The best approach to hosting your fanmade idea is via the Proposed fanmades page, or your Blog, or the Forum to let the community and potential helpers know your fanmade and request exists. You can also ask an administrator or a trusted editor to set up a page for you, providing your fanmade meets the guidelines. In the process, however, it's best you give significant information on the following;


 * 1) See the Notice/Request template if you have already created a page and just need some assistance
 * 2) The name of the fanmade
 * 3) An image, if you need help with an image(s) or have art and sketches that are incomplete, then don't upload it here, instead place it on sites like Photobucket, Tinypic, or Imageshack and then supply the link. When someone establishes the page for you, an editor will upload the completed image on your behalf.
 * 4) The following information; the creator, creation date, gender, age and possibly also a character item. You do not have to supply us with all of this, however its requested the creators name at least.
 * 5) Proof of concept; website, blog, youtube links. A link to the fanmade "in action" (singing) is essential as proof of concept so please supply this as well.
 * 6) Voice; either information on how the voice is achieved or the intended style of voice.
 * 7) A history, essential information. The more you put here the more informative the page will be.
 * 8) Misc. Any little trivia thing you also want to add, don't make the list too long though!

Examples of established pages on the Vocaloid Wiki include; Yowane Haku, Hatsune Mikuo, and Riza Sotone

Characters with Voice Configuration

 * 1) You must have at least one piece of work in that characters name that is not just a cover song using a VSQ file you found on the internet. This will aid in filtering out the fanmades with barely any thought behind them and are just the result of theft of VSQ and song files or laziness.
 * 2) Don't just repitch. Repitches are discouraged. Past repitches such as Akaito were done before every Vocaloid repitch had been made and currently repitching is on a decline. Instead users are encouraged to establish what kind of voice they are looking for in the configuration and a suggested configuration should be put forward. Also, you must be able to establish why this setting is ideal for your fan made. All methods and tricks involving VOCALOID to achieve the desired voice shall be publicly published as proof of concept if they are intended to be used on the wikia.
 * 3) Don't use Audacity or similar software to only repitch a whole song; unless you made the work yourself, this counts as stealing! For proper use of the software, you need to repitch the vocals on their own, then add them the track again. Repitching the song results in the loss of some musical ranges (the bass line, for example, is often lost if you pitch up)
 * 4) When it comes to Human Vocaloids, it is obvious that pitch changes, autotune, or using an associates voice, are allowed. In terms of that personification being yourself or the voice used is for fair use.
 * 5) Notice, this is not the UTAU wiki, by which requires creating a voice for a character using the UTAU software. If you are indeed interested in creating an original voice bank using your own voice or an associate, then please, consider making an UTAUloid.

I want my Vocaloid to be Japanese!
Before creating your own Japanese Fanmade Vocaloid, you will need to be accustomed to the following:


 * 1) The Japanese language.
 * 2) Katakana, Hiragana, Kanji and Furigana.
 * 3) ACTUAL Vocaloid usage. It will not make sense for you to make a Fanmade Vocaloid WITHOUT knowing how it works.
 * 4) The donor's (your voice source; whether it be Hatsune Miku, Kagamine Rin, Kagamine Len, etc) voice and its configurations.
 * 5) An awareness of existing Fanmade Vocaloids and their purposes.

Japanese language is agglutinative and has a set of very complicated markers and inflections. Even small mistakes with inflections or particles can completely nullify your meaning. In addition, most Kanji used in Japanese have several meanings respectively unlike in original Chinese. These facts lead to the difficulty that combining words, especially Kanji, will often create a totally new, different interpretation which you do not expect even if the markers and/or inflectional forms is composed correctly. Furthermore, machine translation is not reliable currently, and will be completely unhelpful for names or text in graphics. Japanese language has nothing common with Western languages in both words and grammar and it has a stupendous amount of homophones, so a machine often makes incorrect translations. It may be a help, but do not take it literally and check it with a dictionary without failure.

The following sites gives a good crash course on the Japanese language. This is very important if you will be basing the name pattern of your hopeful Fanmade Vocaloid after the Japanese Vocaloids, deal with Japanese users, and/or if you plan into venturing into Nico-Nico Douga.


 * http://japanese.about.com/
 * http://www.magnifythelord.org/cma/Nihongo.html
 * http://alc.co.jp/

These programs will also come in handy to you.
 * NJSTAR
 * Microsoft Charmap

This site also includes the Kanji/Kana, English word and Romaji for a word you search.
 * http://jisho.org/

Post by wiki contributors with a level of understanding Japanese language
 * Vocaloid Wiki talk page - Guide to Naming Japanese Vocaloids
 * UTAU Wiki page - Defined Japanese Name
 * UTAU Wiki page - Japanese Language and Culture

IMPORTANT - Regarding Vocaloid + UTAU


Please be aware when you buy a Vocaloid software, you purchase the Vocaloid for your use only. If a school or college buys it, its for that school or college use only. The same is for a studio or band.

While it is possible to use a Vocaloid in UTAU (there are known ways of doing this), however, by accordance to the Vocaloid agreement, you are not allowed to share the Vocaloid software without permission as it is held under a proprietary license. Further more, UTAU guidelines state that the importing of files that are commercially produced software (like Vocaloid) are not allowed to be used for UTAU files as UTAU is intended to be freeware, unless permission form the copyright holders is given. If you own Vocaloid, it is advisable that you do not attempt this, however if you do, for legal reasons do not attempt to share the voicebanks and instead use the files for your own personnel private use only. Attempting to share the files with others, is a direct violation of the end user agreements of both Vocaloid and UTAU and therefore is a serious legal issue.

There is no denying this sort of thing does not already happen, however, only you are responsible for making sure you do not end up in trouble with copyright laws. Fanmades are made from Vocaloid software configurations and concepts; UTAUs are made with the UTAU software. Mixing the two is a dangerous act. As noted, linking to URLs containing illegal downloads of Vocaloid, or UTAU files containing Vocaloid samples being illegal being downloaded also, will be blocked by the website Piapro.

Also, as others who have reported trying to do this have found, the results are often disappointing and the Vocaloids do not sound the same after being imported into UTAU. Both software use different engines and the engines "noise" will produce different outcomes and UTAU is currently unable to produce an identical "noise" to Vocaloid. The exportation of Vocaloid files into UTAU can also often be too difficult to achieve and due to the difference in results, often not worth attempting for the results that are return from doing so.

For further reading, see Licenses